White Umbrella
by queenie-riza
Summary: The moment she caught a glimpse of his kaleidoscope eyes, her head began to fog up and she felt as if she had started to walk on clouds. "…Y-yes…?" She was not aware that she had spoken.


The air was filled with the musty scent that could only come from drenched asphalt. Standing under the school's roof overhang, Naruto Uzumaki sighed deeply as he stared out at the pelting drops of spring rain. The clouds above seemed to mock him, spewing out more rain than necessary. The air around him was damp; he could feel his clothes start to stick to his skin. When he had glanced at the clock in the school hallway on his way out of the building, he had seen that he missed his ride home by twenty minutes. The city bus in this district rarely appeared near the school. When it did, it was every hour and a half. Such is a bus schedule when the busy city is ten miles away from this small private institution.

Naruto felt like punching himself. Being sentenced to afterschool detention is a surefire way to screw himself over.

The teenage boy could only sigh and stare bleakly at the rain.

Hinata Hyuuga took her student council responsibilities very seriously. When no one else in the committee volunteered to remain onsite after school hours to discuss the upcoming rally with the activities coordinator, she stepped in to claim the duty as her own. She had contacted her father, of course, to inform him to send her chauffeur a bit later than usual. Once her business was taken care of she made a brisk walk towards the front doors of the school building, pulling out her folded white umbrella in anticipation of the rain. When she pushed open the heavy doors, a flash of blonde made her stomach lurch and burn. She sunk back into the school building and watched the lonely teenage boy from behind the cracked open door. Hinata felt her heart accelerate and her grip on the umbrella tighten.

A long quiet moment had passed and Hinata retreated back into the building entirely. The thoughts of confrontation with the boy she had admired since primary school left her gutless and spineless. But it was almost time to get picked up. Her chauffeur would appear at any moment and if she was not outside waiting, he would have to go through the trouble to search for her. More than anything, Hinata detested other people going through trouble for her sake. And after a moment of thinking and hesitating, Hinata impulsively pushed herself through the doors with her mind still processing what she had done.

A handful of time had passed and Naruto figured the next time for the city bus to appear was approaching. The rain had not let up; in fact, it seemed to have gotten worse. Large deep puddles had formed in the dips in the concrete and flowers in the surrounding flowerbeds drooped as if exhausted.

Just as he was about to step out from under the overhang's shelter and into the blistering rain, the front doors behind him swung open and he looked over reflexively.

He recognized her immediately.

Hinata Hyuuga, a student council member and in the same year as he. The two grew up in the same town and he always saw her around throughout his life. However, he has never really spoken to her. Naruto noticed she had a watch attached securely to her wrist. The sudden urge to ask the time prodded at his consciousness but he held himself back.

He knew about the Hyuuga family. The prestigious and ancient clan known to have lived in the area since before the industrial age. The wealthy benefactor supporting the private academic institution their younger generation attended. A people that would never think about affiliating themselves with a member of the lower middle class such as himself.

Naruto watched Hinata, almost in awe. He could not deny… She was a pretty girl. He quickly looked away, feeling like a creeper and frightened that if she ever caught him staring at her she would probably have him banned from the school grounds and be ultimately repulsed with him for ogling at her so primitively.

The desire to ask her for the time still pricked at his insides.

With her head down, Hinata quickly walked away from Naruto. She hated how she appeared to not notice him. She knew this was the perfect chance to speak to him for the first time. There was no one else around to interrupt or engage in conversation with him first. All she had to do was turn her head, look at him, smile, and utter some generic greeting commonly shared between strangers. But what cowardice makes up Hinata Hyuuga.

The two remained standing in silence, neither acknowledging the presence of the other. Naruto had been shifting on his feet, deciding between taking off to the bus stop or asking Hinata for the time before doing so. He did not know how much more time was left before transportation arrived and he was not too keen about standing in the heinous rain for long.

He had to make a decision fast. His eyes glanced at the pampered teenage girl.

"Um… Hinata, right…?"

The addressed girl almost jumped out of her skin. And she knew she surely would have if paralysis had not possessed her. She tried to turn her head, to look at the boy she had been harboring feelings for for over a decade but found it impossible. The heat smoldering in her gut made her antsy and she felt a wave of goose bumps stampede over every inch of her skin. Hinata shivered in the cold and spontaneously snapped her head over toward the mildly rough voice that had called out to her.

The moment she caught a glimpse of his kaleidoscope eyes, her head began to fog up and she felt as if she had started to walk on clouds.

"…Y-yes…?"

She was not aware that she had spoken.

Naruto realized how foolish it was to be debating over his choices. Even though this girl was of a higher social status than he, there was no reason for her to keep the time from him. He needed to know. His bus was coming soon and the rain was not looking to be modest. But the moment he uttered out her name, he regretted it.

How inappropriate to address her so familiarly without any prior contact.

He cursed himself for being impolite and expected to be met with her face filled with annoyance, disgust, or maybe even anger.

She looked at him and stuttered her small response, her face brimming with young curiosity and stained with an unbearably adorable blush, complementing her pale complexion.

At first, Naruto could only stare. He watched at her as if she were a painting or a sculpture, whose only purpose is to be looked at, adored, and praised. Her features were divine, molded into perfection. Her eyes were pools to get lost in.

And Naruto found himself drowning.

He shook himself out of the hormonal stupor and found his voice.

"You wouldn't mind telling me the time…Would you…?"

He grinned stupidly and took a step back, feeling unworthy of her stunning presence, and waited for any kind of reply.

Hinata felt her hand twitch slightly. She grew increasingly aware of the watch latched onto her wrist. Somehow, she sensed disappointment budding into her consciousness.

Why else would he talk to her?

It was only because she had what he needed.

If she was not wearing a watch, he would not have spoken to her.

Or noticed her.

Hinata bit her lip, the negative thoughts chipping away at her esteem. She looked up at Naruto and was met with expectancy. Suddenly all things bad in the world seemed to disappear and all that was left was her, him, and her watch. She brought the time-telling device closer to her face and promptly read the time aloud.

"4:23…"

She glanced back up at him and watched as his face brightened into a satisfied grin.

"Thanks… That means only seven more minutes till my bus gets here…! And it takes five to walk there, so… Only two to wait…!" He chuckled light heartedly and took a step into the foul weather.

When Hinata had informed him of the current time, Naruto could not have been any more satisfied. The perfect timing made him feel giddy and he impulsively said some rather silly things, mostly to himself but aloud.

The words he spoke mindlessly repeated in his head after he had said them and he felt genuinely dumb for doing so. Feeling an embarrassed heat rise to his face he made a quick step into the rain, the cold feeling even icier on his hot skin.

"Ah-! N-…Naruto…!"

Ringing in her ears, all Hinata could hear was her heart screaming, _B-DUMP! B-DUMP! B-DUMP!_

Before she realized it was happening, Naruto was responding to her call and stepped back under the overhang, which sent a bloom of relief through her system, to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah….?"

"Ah…." Hinata found herself fiddling with her thumbs, a trait she has come to call her own, and glancing from Naruto's face to his feet. "It's just… You were about to leave and it's still raining really hard…" Feeling ultimately silly for pointing out the obvious, she kept her eyes fixed on his shoes and felt another hot blush suffocate her.

"Oh…. Yeah, well, I didn't bring an umbrella with me today… I actually didn't expect it to rain this bad…" There was slight embarrassment in Naruto's voice and Hinata shot her head up to look at him.

"I have one…! I mean, you can use my umbrella… If you want…" She brought the umbrella up between them and offered it shyly to the teenage boy.

She watched cautiously as Naruto's face broke into a wide grin.

"Really….?" He reached out and took it from her, his fingers slightly brushing against hers. The contact made her jump slightly but it seemed to go by unnoticed by the boy opening her pure white umbrella. "Thanks…" He smiled at her brightly and proceeded to enter the torrent of rain.

As Naruto bounded down the sidewalk, he nearly skipped on his heels. He did not know what he had done to deserve such kindness from a girl like Hinata Hyuuga but he was very grateful. He promised himself he would talk care of the umbrella and return it to her as soon as possible.

The thought of approaching her again almost excited him. A girl of her impressive status must be very selective of her companions and if he was able to win his way into her circle that would be an achievement worth the risks.

Just as he reached the bus stop, he glanced down the street and spotted the long burly transportation vehicle racing against the rain. He waited, standing under the white umbrella.

Now that Naruto was out of sight, Hinata felt a suffocating weight being lifted off of her. In her head, she repeated 'Thank You's to God for giving her that small moment of contact with the boy who had captured her heart since they were children.

She was not bothered by the possibility that she might never see her umbrella again. But she was anxious if there was ever going to be another chance to speak with him.

Her girlish thoughts were put on hold when a slick black limousine pulled up into the school's parking lot. She recognized her chauffeur's face through the windshield and took a step into the rain and toward the vehicle.

"S-Stop, Ms. Hinata….!" Her chauffeur called out from the window.

She froze and watched him curiously as he stepped out of the driver's seat and hurried to her side, holding an umbrella.

"Ms. Hinata…" He spoke, opening the umbrella and holding over his employer's daughter's head. "Where is your umbrella…?"

Immediately, Hinata felt rather bashful. "Ah… I gave it s-someone…" She kept her voice low and walked with the chauffeur to the limousine.

"You _gave_ it to someone…? But why? Your father told you to bring one… That it was going to rain today…"

Hinata crawled into the backseat and spoke to herself as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Yes… But he needed it more than I…"

She smiled and blushed.

Would they ever meet again and talk?

Well, he had her umbrella.

Hinata realized she did not care about the umbrella.

But she did wish he would return it to her quickly.


End file.
